Bruce Sterling

?Are we going up again? ??No. On the contrary; we are going down!? ?Worse than that, Mr. Smith, we are falling!? ?For God?s sake throw over all the ballast!? ?The last sack is empty!? ?And the balloon rises again?? ?No!? ?I hear the splashing waves!? ?The sea is under us!? ?It is not five hundred feet off!? Then a strong, clear voice shouted:??Overboard with all we have, and God help us! ?Such were the words which rang through the air above the vast...